USS Enterprise: KIRK
by OceanxEyes
Summary: How did I end up here? Why am I doing this? I'm sure that's what your all wondering, right? Well let me tell you it's pretty boring, at least to me. It all started with a boy. Don't all life changing stories start with a boy? His name, James T. Kirk. The bane of my existence and the love of my life. It all started on a little planet called Riza... Kirk x OC
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I probably shouldn't post this yet, but I thought what the hell. I have the first four chapters ready to go and working on the fifth one, but I probably wont post the second chapter until I finish the fifth and so on. This story is set between Star Trek: 2009 and Into Darkness.**

**Thanks for Checking it Out.**

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Episode 1: Welcome to Riza

"Scotch on the rocks." She stated tapping the bar as the bartender passed. He nodded his head in understanding and moved to help someone at the end of the bar. She slid on one of the stools and crossed her legs. The sarong she was wearing slid away revealing a generous amount of skin. She huffed silently at the sudden lose of cover, but left it be as the bartender returned with her drink. A smile spread across her lips accompanied by a playful wink. "Thank you." The bartender returned the smile before moving on to the next patron. It had been a while since she could just enjoy a drink without being interrupted, she took her time bringing the glass up to her nose and inhaling the aroma of the liquid. She let out a small content sigh before taking a small taste. It burned as it went down but that didn't stop her from enjoying the drink.

Her face flushed as the alcohol heated her from within. Her fingers toyed with the cool glass before she brought it to her forehead. A murmur of content fell from her lips. "I take it you're enjoying your drink." Her head tilted to the right but she didn't look. As she brought the glass away from her face the ice jostled and shifted clinking against the glass. "Maybe a little too much." as she noticed some of the other male patrons and a few women looked her way. "Is this seat taken?" He asked pointing to the empty stool beside her. "It's all yours." She replied offhandedly waving her hand as she did.

"This your first time on Riza?" He asked leaning forward. She brushed the obvious come on with a question of her own. "Do you come here often enough to spot the new comers?" She watched as a look of surprise flashed across his face, before he regained his composure. "I didn't know I was being rude but how about we start over. My names Captain James T. Kirk." He stated emphasizing on the Captain and sticking out his hand. She knew what he was doing but decided to play along. "It's nice to meet you Captain. Ramona." She replied with a coy smile offering her own hand. She saw his grin widen a fraction as he took her hand. "So what brings you to Riza Captain?" She asked as she took her hand back, taking another dram of her scotch.

"A little R&R and I couldn't help but notice you didn't offer a last name." he answered with his own counter point. "True." she answered simply, trying to hide her smile behind the glass as she took another sip of her drink. "Are you going to offer one?" he asked watching her with faint curiosity. "No." she replied shortly this time letting him see her smile; satisfied when he mirrored her expression. "Alright I know when to take the hint." holding up his hand in mock defeat. "What brings you to the planet of pleasure?" he continued with a slight husky quality. "Same as you, just a little R&R." she answered with a slight shrug; taking a swig finishing off her drink. The bartender returned silently asking if she required another. She waved her hand over the top of the glass signify she was fine and he moved on.

"I'm sorry to cut this short Captain but I have an early morning tomorrow and I should really get back to my room." She moved to stand placing both her palms on the bar twisting to step down. He caught her wrist gently, she tensed at the contact but waited for his move. She knew his reputation but she could see why many women fell for his charm, she wanted to see where he was going with this. "I'm sure your Captain will understand, stay enjoy yourself. No offense but you look like you could use it." She raised an eyebrow as a smile slowly crept across her features. She relaxed back into her stool, looking to him for his next move. "And how do you suggest I do that?" Her voice taking on a playful seductive tone leaning on her elbow as she waited for him to respond. He mirrored her movements and she could feel the air around them become tense for a whole other reason. "There's a few things I could suggest, but something tells me you wouldn't go for them." He replied in a low husky murmur as a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Try me, Captain." She purred, watching as his eyebrow rose.

They spent the next hour seated at the bar toying with the other. It had been a long time since Ramona had this much fun just talking with someone.

"So I know you know who I am and what ship I come from. What about you?" What ship do you call home?" He asked as the night started to wind down. She gave him a small wistful smile before answering. "The USS Nova." He heard a hint of pride lace through her tone. "I've heard of the Nova; a Science vessel if I'm not mistaken." a second later he gave a sympathetic cringe accompanied by a sharp intake of breath through his teeth. "I've heard the Captains a bit of a hard ass. Captain...Hill if I'm not mistaken. Is he as much of a tight ass as I've heard?" He asked giving a small chuckle, he failed to notice Ramona tense at the mention of the Captain. "I hadn't heard..." She mumbled losing all humor. He noticed the change in her demeanor and was about to change the topic when she smiled politely and went to stand again.

He grabbed her near the elbow stopping her from taking off. "Hey look sorry didn't mean to offend you. You seem to hold your Captain in high regards, I respect that." He back peddled. She smiled softly as she pulled her arm gently from his grip. "Listen, I had a really nice time tonight but it's late and I should be heading back to my ship." She took a step away, he nodded reluctantly but stopped her one last time. "At least tell me your last name, so I can find you again." He gave a playful smirk, which she couldn't help but return. She opened her mouth to reply but stopped when another person stopped next to the pair.

"Captain Hill, is he bothering you?" The mans voice cut in protectively. She watched as emotions flashed across Kirk's face. "Everythings fine Quinn. I was just on my way back." She nodded at her second in command. "You didn't check in we were worried something had happened, it's unlike you." He continued glancing at the still frozen Captain. "I know Quinn, I know. Head on with out me I'll join you in a second." She stated giving him a look. He nodded once giving one final glance at Kirk before taking his leave.

She was a little surprised when Kirk started to laugh. "I can't believe you let me sit there and stick my foot in my mouth." He murmured running a hand through his hair. "What can I say your cute when your flustered." Letting the joke slip before she thought about what she said. He smiled at her but didn't comment. "I really did have a good time tonight. It's been a long time since I could relax with someone." She replied honestly giving him a sincere smile as she moved forward and placed a kiss to his cheek before leaving the bar, ignoring how her sarong left nothing to the imagination. She turned back when she reached the door placing a hand on the frame, she was happy to see he was still watching her. A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth, she gave a sultry wink before disappearing through the door. She didn't miss the look of shock or the grin that spread across his face at the silent challenge. They knew they would see each other again, and he was looking forward to the next encounter.

-0-

She made her way to the shuttle port and saw her second in command waiting patiently for her arrival. He gave a slight nod in greeting. "Are you sure that was such a good idea?" He asked as she came closer. "Oh it's harmless, even if it was the one and only Captain James Tiberius Kirk." She laughed playfully, climbing in the shuttle. "Actually I was referring to your outfit." He chuckled from behind her, her head turned back sharply. She shoved his shoulder before taking her seat. He chuckled as he took his seat. "And might I say what a lovely outfit it is Captain." She heard from the front of the shuttle. She gave a look to the pilot. "Eyes on the sky Ensign." She stated trying hard to keep from smiling at the compliment. "I never should have come down here. Especially in this." She added lifting the sheer fabric letting it slip through her fingers.

Quinn rolled his eyes but smartly kept his mouth shut. "Oh, and you wont believe what he said to me, well what he heard about me. He called me a tight ass. Can you believe that?" She added her arms moving rapidly, giving a humorless chuckle. Quinn tried very hard not to let a smile take over his features. The pilot gave a soft chuckle. She glanced between them before rolling her eyes and tossing her hands in the air before leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms. "Did I tell you how lovely you look today Captain?" Mathews responded giving her a playful smile. "I'm not sure how I fell about my pilots eyes wandering while he's transporting me." She responded but the lack of conviction made the occupants of the shuttle chuckle.

"Tell me again why we couldn't just beam up?" Quinn asked glancing around the shuttle in mild disgust. "You could have beamed up, no one was stopping you." She replied tartly, but gave a smile to show she wasn't serious. "Of course I can, but why won't you?" He tried again. "Yeah captain. Not that I don't like transporting you, it's just awfully strange." Mathews added as they started the landing procedures. "I'm just not a fan of transporters that's all." She replied solemnly. The shuttle took on a tense silence in the wake of her comment. She sat in thought for a few more seconds before snapping out of a memory.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make this depressing." she murmured forcing a smile. "It's fine captain." Quinn responded watching her closely, never having seen her so out of it. "No harm captain." Mathews chirped from the pilot's seat, trying to lighten the mood.

The shuttle jostled slightly as it touched down in the shuttle bay. "Welcome back Captain. I would have liked an update if you were planning on being late. Or did you deliberately keep me in the dark just to make me wait for you." Her chief engineer grumbled as she stepped off the shuttle. "You know how I love to make you wait for me." Ramona replied with a playful smile. Brooks shook his head and chuckled. "I should have expected that." He replied as he moved aside. "Mathews didn't your shift end two hours ago?" Brooks asked with a scowl on his face.

Mathews rubbed the back of his head as he stepped off the shuttle. "Yeah sorry Lieutenant. I heard that the captain was in a bikini and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it." He replied with a smirk. Brooks glared at the young ensign, but before he could say anything Ramona intervened. "Let it go he's had his fun; but the next time you commandeer a shuttle without permission I might have to make you clean the cargo bay with a tooth-brush." She stated with a firm voice. Mathews eyes widened slightly before responding. "Yes ma'am." and he took off across the bay and out the door. Quinn and Brooks chuckled as they watched him go. "You were too easy on him." Brooks mumbled as they left the shuttle bay.

"How was my baby while we were gone?" Ramona asked as they headed to the turbo lift. "Everything's running smoothly. The transporter in transporter room three has given some interesting readings I was going to take a look at that tomorrow." Brooks stated as they stepped into the lift. Ramona gave a pointed look to Quinn who rolled his eyes. "Good work Lieutenant. Get some sleep we're moving on tomorrow." Her voice firm with authority. The turbo lift stopped and opened. "And Brooks." She added softer, the chief engineer turned back to her, waiting. "Thank you." she gave a nod and a friendly smile. A small smile tugged at his lip, he merely nodded in return before heading down the hall to his quarters.

Quinn and Ramona stood in silence as the turbo lift moved to their deck. Both lost in thought neither willing to break the silence. The turbo lift doors opened and they both exited moving down the hall toward their quarters.

"Goodnight Captain." Quinn stated as he stopped in front of his quarters. She turned giving a smile. "Goodnight Adrian." he nodded once before tapping in his code and entering his quarters. She let out a small almost inaudible sigh. He worried about her too much, but then again that was his job. She shook her head and typed in her door code and entered the dark quarters. "Computer Lights. 50 percent" she murmured to the quiet room. As requested the lights illuminated the lonely room. She rubbed her neck gently as she moved to her bedroom. "What a day." she mumbled to no one.

She changed and moved to the comm desk in her quarters. "Computer...never mind." she started and stopped moving away from the desk to a picture on her night stand. She touched it gently lost in thought, her memories dancing through her mind. She snapped out of it and moved back to the comm.

"Captains Personal log...Ramona Hill." She waited for a second and then continued.

"I meet a fellow Captain on Riza today. A one James T. Kirk..."

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Adrian Quinn: Second in Command, Mathews: Ensign navigator, Brooks: Lieutenant Chief Engineer.

Review or message me with any questions, concerns or anything in between.


	2. Chapter 2

Episode 2: Distress Call

It had been a week since Ramona's run in with Kirk and she hadn't really thought about him since. They were in warp and making great time on their way to Deep Space Two. However there was nothing taking place but routine maintenance and boredom. "You know I really hate this color." Ramona stated breaking the silence of the bridge, as she looked down at her command gold top. "It clashes horrible with my hair." she added toying with her bright red locks, ignoring the stares and chuckles from the crew on the bridge. She crossed her legs as she stared forward in thought. "Might I suggest you pick another color captain." Quinn responded as he passed by her captain's chair on his way to his work station. A few of the crew members chuckled glad to have a distraction.

"I'm thinking." She mumbled deep in thought. "I know! How about lavender?" She asked glancing up with excitement. "It would go great with my hair and bring out my eyes." She added with amusement. "Yes that's true, that would be the perfect color. Let me just contact Starfleet and have them change all captains uniforms to a soft lavender. That would go over well." Quinn replied with a playful smirk as he looked over reports. Ramona gave a soft chuckle "Fine, fine no more fashion changes. How are we looking?" She asked looking to her second in command. "Everything seems to be in order Captain." He replied.

Not a second later a beeping came from the communication desk. Ramona swiveled to look to her comm officer, waiting for an update. "It's a distress call, captain. The USS Pegasus. They're being attacked by Klingons. Critical condition." The communications officer filled in quickly. Ramona turned back around in thought. "Are there any ships in the area?" She asked her helmsmen. "We're the only ship in range. Enterprise is a close second." Mathews answered. "Captain we don't have the fire power to hold off a bird of prey. We're just a science vessel." Quinn added. "Not to mention it could be a trap." He added carefully watching her weigh the options.

"Put the coordinates in and punch it." She ordered firmly, it most definitely was a trap. She could see Quinn wanted to argue with her but wisely remained quiet. "Captain we just got an update on the Pegasus. They just launched escape pods and the Klingons are starting to focus their fire on them." Her comm officer informed. "How far are we from the Pegasus?" Ramona asked Mathews. "Not close enough." He answered with frustration. A short time later they dropped out of warp. "Status on the Pegasus. Why isn't it defending the escape pods?" Ramona asked sitting forward in her captain's chair watching the events on her view monitor. "He initiated the self destruct sequence." Mathews responded in horror. "With the escape pods so close, he's going to kill his entire crew. What is he doing?" Ramona asked in anger as she stood from her chair. "How many can we beam aboard?" She directed to Quinn, who immediately started locking on the survivors.

"Defend the Pods." She ordered as she stood behind her helmsman. "Captain the Klingons have turned their attention to us." Mathews stated with hesitation. "How many have we beamed aboard?" She directed to Quinn. "Not even half." He murmured angrily. She leaned forward punching a pair of coordinates. "Jump to warp." She ordered Mathews who was staring at the coordinates in confusion. "Captain?" Quinn exclaimed standing from his station. "Do it" She commanded not looking at anything but the view screen. "What are you doing?" Quinn blurted angrily. She gave him a warning look. She leaned over Mathews again. She pulled up a picture of a klingon bird of prey. "We only have one shot at this. When we jump back aim for this spot." She ordered. "Now." She added. "Beam as many as you can we're going to have to jump to warp again almost immediately." She stated looking to Quinn for conformation, who was immediately back at his station finally realizing what she was doing. "Jumping in and out of warp could damage the core." He added as an after thought. "I know." She murmured as they jumped back into hostile space. "Brooks wont be happy." He murmured. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I know…"

It was a flurry of noise and torpedo's. They jumped in and out of warp just enough times to beam aboard survivors and avoid receiving heavy damage. "What the hell are you doing to my ship?" Ramona heard from her comm. She wanted to laugh at her engineer but now was not the time. "We've got a rescue mission underway, a little busy Brooks." She answered with slight irritation. "If you keep up what your doing, you could damage the core and then we'd be no better than the Pegasus." He answered with irritation of his own. "Understood." She growled before closing the comm. "How many survivors do we have left?" She asked looking to Quinn, they only had a few more jumps before they would be exactly like the Pegasus. "Eight or ten it's hard to get an accurate reading when we keep jumping." He answered with slight frustration. "If we stay longer do you think we could get the rest?" she asked giving him a pointed look. "Yes, but can we hold them off long enough to pull it off." He murmured. "We just have to hold them off until the enterprise arrives - Do it." she responded her voice hard.

They jumped back in a flurry of cannon and torpedo fire. "Captain weapons are offline." Mathews voice broke through the noise. "How many more survivors?" She demanded. "Just two but it's hard to get a reading. There still on the Pegasus." Quinn responded glancing up from his station. "I think the Klingons realize it because they've concentrated their fire back on the Pegasus." Mathews cut in. Ramona's head shot up to the view screen in anger. "They're targeting the captain." She ground out. "Move us between the ships." She ordered. "This is suicide captain." Quinn responded angrily. "Just beam them aboard." She stated calmly. An eerie calm settled over the bridge. Before they could receive any more damage there was a beeping from the comm. She held her breath.

"Captain it's the Enterprise." Mathews responded excitement lacing his voice. "They're hailing us Captain." Her comm officer stated. She let out a rush of air. "Put them on-screen." she responded sharply, wanting to waist no time. "Looks like you could use a little help." Kirks face entered the view screen. "Can you draw their fire? We've got two survivors left on the ship and our weapons are disabled." Ramona forgo the playful banter, getting straight to the point.

Plan in place they disabled the bird and beamed aboard the remaining survivors. "Punch it Mathews." Ramona stated gliding back into her captain's chair. They jumped to warp with the Enterprise right behind them. She let out a sigh before turning to her second in command. "Did you transfer over their ships logs to find out what happened?" He gave a short nod. "Good." She stood up again and headed to her ready room. "Quinn can I see you for a moment?" She stated more as an order more than a question.

As the door closed behind him; Quinn stood in the center of the room as she moved behind her desk. "You know I value your opinion, that's one of the reasons I chose you. You're not afraid to state your mind and offer an alternative, but if you ever question my orders in front of the crew again." She ground out letting it trail at the end. "Yes, sir." He replied in a clipped manner. "Hail the Enterprise and request Doctor Leonard McCoy, Chief engineer Montgomery Scott, and Captain James Kirk. Oh, and find the Captain of the Pegasus. Send him to my ready room." She stated with a slight glare as she sat down at her desk. "Yes, sir. But why McCoy and Scott?" he asked as he stood before the door. "We have wounded undoubtedly and McCoy is the one of the best doctors starfleet has to offer and our med bay could use the help and not to sound childish but our med bay is more advanced than the Enterprise. As for Scott, Brooks will need some help that can keep up with him." She replied with a wry smile. Quinn nodded once before heading out of the ready room to carry out her request.

"You wanted to see me Captain Hill." Captain of the Pegasus drawled as he entered her ready room. She had to hold her tongue. "Yes, I wanted to know why your ship was so close to Klingon Space." She stated standing up slowly trying to be as calm as possible. "That's really none of your concern." He answered with in difference. She didn't see Captain Kirk enter the room. "Really? It's not my business? How about I risked my ship and my crew to save yours and all you can say is it's none of my concern." She answered with a little more force. "If you had a better plan entering the fight you wouldn't have sustained the damage you did." He mocked. "You should have just waited for the Enterprise. At least that Captain knows what he's doing. How did you even manage to get a ship?" He ground out. "Your avoiding the question, what were you doing so close to Klingon space, Captain." She stated glaring. "I mean were you deliberately trying to start a war. That's the only possible explanation as to why you would be so close to the border. Where any captain worth his salt would know, there are plenty of Klingon itching for a fight. So tell me again Captain why were you in Klingon space." She added placing her palms flat on her desk.

"How do you know it wasn't a mission of Peace. Maybe we were trying to open negotiations to the Klingons." He added with a raised eyebrow. She tried hard not to bark out a laugh. "Because if it was a mission of Peace you could have said that from the beginning. And second there are more qualified people to negotiate with the Klingons. Hint it's not you or your crew. You'd need the best Xenolinguist in the fleet." She wanted to yell but she held herself in control. "Oh and I'm guessing that's you then." he responded with sarcasm. "I'm flattered you think so highly of my skills but I was thinking more Nyota Uhura from the Enterprise. If they were going to send anyone to talk a peace treaty with the Klingon it would be the Enterprise. But if you knew anything about the Klingons you would know negotiations in the past have gone so poorly that starfleet would be negligent if they were to send another peace mission. So tell me what were you doing so close to Klingon space." She glared.

"It's classified. How's that for a better answer." He glared back. "If you want to do it this way then fine, but expect starfleet to get my full report on this." She ground out getting fed up with him. "Get out of my ready room. Captain." She didn't look up as he left the room.

"Can I help you Captain Kirk?" She replied calming down. "You sent for me." He responded with a smirk. "Right sorry I did. I wanted to say thank you for aiding the rescue of the Pegasus crew. And for letting me borrow your doctor and engineer." She added with a small smile. He nodded before shifting "I hate to say it but he's right." He added using his captain voice. "He's right about what?" Her head snapped up dangerously. "You shouldn't have entered that fight. You were out gunned, but I'm impressed you managed to get the survivors and your ships still in one peace." He stated cautiously. She leaned forward on her desk. "I know we were out gunned but they were firing at the escape pods and the Pegasus was doing nothing to protect them. He had actually initiated the self destruct with most of the pods with in range." She murmured dejectedly. "The Klingons were firing on the escape pods?" He asked clarifying, a look of uncertainty on his face. "That doesn't sound like them. They like a fair fight, honor and all that." He added waving his hand offhandedly. "I know that's why this whole thing puzzles me." she wiped a hand through her hair in exhaustion. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Kirk broke it. "So you're a Xenolinguist?" he asked with a smirk. "Yes. I was a communications officer before I got my command." She answered with a small smile. "That means you have a talented tongue." He replied with a smirk. For the first time in a long time she blushed.

They went their separate ways to assess the damage of their ships.

She sat in her quarters looking over the logs from the USS Pegasus. None of it was making sense. Finally she switched over to the video log for the view screen hoping to find what she was missing by listening to the Klingon side of this. She wasn't a comm officer anymore, but she made sure to keep up on her languages. After a few hours she concluded that the Pegasus was there to start a fight and using evidence she sent her report to starfleet. She sat back on her small couch and let out a small sigh. Nothing about this situation sat right with her, but it wasn't in her hands anymore. She knew she'd hear back from them in a few weeks or so with a decision.

She decided to take a walk through her ship to clear her head. She threw on casual clothes and started her trek to no place in particular. She wound up in Engineering. She was expecting the silent hum of the core, but was surprised when she heard shouting. She knew it wasn't serious but she was intrigued all the same. "Get off that." She heard a thick accent bark at someone. She saw a small alien perched up higher, making noises and waving his arms. The Scot was looking up at him and waving back wildly barely making sense. She couldn't help the small giggle escape her lips. It was louder than she thought because they stopped their bickering and turned to her. She held up her hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry to disturb you I was just taking a walk." She replied with a friendly smile. "It's a little dangerous to be wandering around here. I'm not familiar with the ship and it's accommodations but I don't think engineering is on the approved list for sight-seeing." Scotty replied with a smile. "It can be when you're the captain." She replied with a playful smirk as she watched his face drain of color. "Don't worry, I really was just taking a walk. I'm Captain Ramona Hill, and I'm very grateful for you coming to help with my ship. It took quite a beating." She added holding out her hand. "Montgomery Scott and that little bugger up there is Keenser. You have a lovely ship, not as beautiful as the Enterprise but she's a good ship." She should have been slightly offended but there was just something about him that made her smile. "It's nice to meet you, I won't disturb you any further or Brooks will be all over me tomorrow morning." She smiled at the duo before heading to the door. "It was nice meeting you Captain." He replied before getting into another argument with Keenser. She shook her chuckling as she left engineering. What an interesting pair.

She was passing close to the mess hall when she passed by two men she knew weren't part of her crew. They were both in science blue and in a small argument. Well to be fair one of them was upset the other just raised his eyebrow as the man went on about something. As she passed they payed her no mind, she knew they looked familiar and it clicked the stoic one must be Kirks first officer Spock; the half vulcan. The other she wasn't as familiar with, but whatever they were arguing about seemed to upset him. She shook her head, the enterprise must be one interesting ship to work aboard.

She finally decided to get some sleep and headed back to her quarters.

She punched in her code stretching her muscles as she walked to her bedroom; changing into her sleep clothes. She kissed her fingers touching the picture next to her bed. "Computer lights." She murmured before her quarters went dark. She slipped under the covers and rolled on her side slipping into a dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Orion Women

After the incident with the Pegasus, she finally heard back from starfleet with their decision. It seemed the higher-ups deemed it an accident and dropped the issue. To say the crew of the Nova were upset would be an understatement. "I know you're all upset, but the best thing from here on out is shrug it off and move on. There's no use stewing over it." She addressed the bridge, but Quinn could see her index finger tapping on the arm of her Captains chair, a clear sign she was agitated. "It's been a few weeks and they weighed the options carefully. The best thing we can do now is move on." She finished trying very hard not to come off cross. The bridge fell into a comfortable calm as they ran normal procedures. The comm beeped, but Ramona didn't turn, waiting patiently.

"Captain we're being hailed." Her comm officer stated in the silence. "Put it on-screen." She replied calmly.

"It's good to see you Captain Hill." A friendly voice floated over the bridge.

"And you Admiral. What do I owe the pleasure of your call." She replied with a smile.

"We have a mission for you. The details are being sent to you as we speak. I know your ship doesn't exactly handle these types of missions but you and your crew are the only ship within range, that has the skills we need." He replied firmly.

"What is it that you need Admiral?" She asked glancing down at the Padd Quinn handed her with the details. "I need you to find missing data. When the Pegasus was recovered they noticed raiders stripped vital information that should have been destroyed." He replied with irritation. "I would normally call upon the Enterprise for this, but they're preoccupied with another mission at the moment. And with your history I couldn't think of anyone more qualified. We need you to infiltrate and retrieve the information; intelligence has narrowed down the location of the missing data to this system." He stated showing the system they were to head to. She looked over the information, her eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Admiral, just to clarify. You're asking us to infiltrate the Orion syndicate to take back our data?" She asked cautiously. "That's precisely what I'm asking Captain. Is there a problem?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "No problem at all I just thought it was something a little more challenging is all." She replied with sarcasm slipping in her voice. Causing some of her crew to stifle chuckles. Admiral Archer gave a small chuckle. "I have missed your humor Captain." His face became serious. "This mission is of the utmost importance captain. If the Klingons get their hands on this information, it could end badly for us all." He replied firmly. "I understand Admiral, consider it done. Nova out." She replied signaling her comm officer to close the channel.

She sat back in her chair in thought. This was going to be tricky not to mention extremely dangerous. "Set coordinates, Orion Colony, warp three." She directed to Mathews before standing from her chair and heading to her ready room. Quinn following silently behind her. "Captain, I would like to lead the away..." She held up her hand slightly. "This is too delicate to send a landing party." She murmured looking over the data. "What do you have in mind?" He asked cautiously. She looked up slowly. "We need to send someone alone to slip in, gain their trust. They can listen in on conversations, so we need someone with a background in Xenolinguistics..." She mumbled glancing at him watching as realization crossed his features. "You can't mean you're going to be the one. Captain that's crazy." He replied with slight frustration.

"I'm the only one qualified to do it." She replied calmly waiting for him to calm down. After a few minutes of incoherent rambling he relented. "What's your plan?" He asked sitting down. "I'm going to pose as a Orion slave girl. That reminds me I need to brush up on some things." She mumbled as she looked across her desk for something. He watched her in complete shock. "You can't be serious?" He asked with a dry laugh. "As a heart attack." She replied finding what she was looking for and standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me Commander. I need to go see the doctor." She replied moving to the door.

-0-

They made it to the Orion Colony in record time. "You remember the plan?" She asked her first officer who was still staring at her. She snapped her fingers at him with a small smirk gracing her lips. He came out of his daze and looked up at her. "Yes, sir." He responded his neck starting to heat up in embarrassment. She shifted from foot to foot trying to come to terms with the revealing outfit she was forced herself to wear for the mission. "When this is all over remind me to congratulate the doctor on a job well done." Ramona murmured as they stood on the transporter pad. "You must have been in med bay for hours. Becoming green can't be easy." Quinn replied with a small smirk. She shot him a look. She really hated transporters and he wasn't helping with his jokes.

The Admiral wanted this to be handled quickly and quietly. She hoped she could get this done with out issue or she was going to wind up dead.

"I wasn't aware that one of the slaves escaped." She heard one of the Orion men reply as she tuned back into the conversation. "It was on one of the smaller raiding party ships, they were ashamed to admit that they were unable detain a single slave." Quinn answered calmly, it was weak lie but they rarely asked questions. "It was very generous of you to return her; I was under the impression Starfleet didn't get involved in matters of this nature." The Orion trader drawled. "Starfleet doesn't know I'm here and I'd like it to stay that way." Quinn replied giving the trader a pointed look. "Understood Captain." The Orion stated giving Quinn a subtle wink. She couldn't help the chill that ran up her spin.

"Come." The trader commanded. She followed glancing one last time at her first officer. She gave a small nod and followed.

"What was your specialty?" He stopped turning to her, speaking to her in their native language. "Dancing." She replied in fluent Kolari. She had been brushing up on her Orion languages. It was truly a complex language. She had to pick carefully which dialect she would use in dealing with them.

"Good we lost one of our best dancers to a Klingon Commander. We shall see your skill soon." he replied as they continued through the hallways.

-0-

She had been undercover for almost a week and she had picked up some valuable information, but not quite what she was looking for. "Girha, your up next." One of the Orion traders directed to Ramona. There was a large group no doubt a large deal about to be negotiated. This might be the opening she was looking for. She gave a nod and went to the darkened area to the side and crouched down waiting for her signal. She scanned the crowd, but kept it from being obvious. She nearly made a sound when she saw Captain Kirk and two of his crew sitting among the bodies present.

"What the hell is he doing here?"She mumbled under her breath. She hadn't heard any rumblings among the traders about the Enterprise being in the area. Starfleet must be getting desperate to send another team on this mission. She heard the murmurs of the large crowd as they haggled over prices, honor and many other things. When the rumblings started to get louder; her music was cued.

Lights illuminated her figure as she contorted her body to a standing a position. The men of all races fell into silence as she moved her hips slowly. She ignored the barely there outfit and did what she needed to do.

The heavy beat of the drums rumbled through her chest as she picked up the pace as the music tempo increased. She moved her hands above her head as she swung her hips; doing wide jumps and side flips moving toward the men.

She moved to Kirk. She danced around him before getting incredibly close and whispered in his ear. "Tell me Captain, Do green women turn you on?" She asked before moving away and around to more patrons. She could feel his eyes on her back as she moved around the room. After a few minutes the men returned to their negotiations, calmer.

She passed by a particularly large Klingon when she heard what she had been hoping to hear. The data from the Pegasus, was about to be sold. She danced closer making sure to be discreet.

She danced away with a large grin spread across her face. That was the meeting she had been waiting for. Now to finish this out and start the extraction procedures. As she finished she was walking down the hallway to her living quarters. She could feel someone behind her but ignored them and moved faster. "Hold on." She felt a hand snake around her wrist pulling her backward to face them. She let a breath of relief as she got a sight of who caught her. "May I help you?" She asked in Kolari as she saw fellow dancers pass by with mild curiosity. "Cut the crap and speak english." He murmured getting closer.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a few of the big Orion guards coming their way, she backed up against the wall pulling him flush against her. "Play along or they'll kill you." She whispered hurriedly. Nodding he put his hand on her hip the other on the wall to support him. She buried her face in his neck putting her hands on his chest. The Orion guards moved on ignoring the two on the wall. As they passed Ramona pushed him back a step. "Are you trying to blow my cover?" She asked angrily. "Funny, I could ask you the same thing." He replied trying very hard to ignore her outfit. "I've been here for a week, how about you?" She hissed. He looked shocked before looking to the side. "Two days." he mumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest in irritation. "Well at least you didn't ruin anything. I've got the information I came for, maybe you can do me a favor and send this to my ship." She stated handing him a data strip. She was taking a risk by trusting him. He wasn't sure where she was hiding that, but with more time he would have liked to find out.

"See you around Captain." She whispered getting close to his ear as a few more patrons came through the hall. With that she was gone, he went the other way heading back to his ship.

She nearly sprinted down the hall trying to make it back to her appointed room to start the extraction process. She was hoping the captain didn't do something stupid and get caught, he seemed to have a penchant for that sort of thing. She moved through her room quickly gathering what little she needed. "Where is it?" She cursed rapidly searching in her hiding spots.

She felt an arm slide around her waist and draw her close to their body. "Looking for something?" The person asked in English holding out a modified tracking beacon, the very thing she had been searching for. "What...I don't understand...what is that?" she responded in Kolari trying not to give herself away. "Do not play dumb with me." The man responded moving his hand up to her throat, gripping slightly. "I have to admit I was fooled by you for a while, but you gave yourself away today. I've seen you dance and you seem to capture a room but you have never spoken to a customer before. Today you not only spoke to the man but solicited him with out proper payment. If you had been a seasoned dancer as you claimed to be, you would have not let him near you with out payment. So tell me, who are you? and why were you so adamant to find this?" he asked emphasizing by gripping her neck tighter causing her to gasp for air as he waved the device in her face.

She didn't know the man holding her by name but she knew him to be a slave guard. He had been watching her very closely since she arrived. She originally thought him to be simple-minded and infatuated with something new, but clearly she had been wrong.

"I'm not telling you anything." She responded through strangled breaths. "I've heard that before but you'll crack like the rest of them." He stated adding slightly more pressure. "Fine...fine...whatever you do don't push the button on the side." she gasped out as he loosed his hold slightly. "Will it kill us?" he asked apprehensively, giving the device a better glance. "No nothing lethal, just something very uncomfortable for whoever pushes it." she replied trying to stay calm to get her thoughts together.

"I will make you push it then." He replied thrusting the device in her hand. "You might not want to be touching me when I push it." She replied quickly, stepping away slightly as he let her go, but kept a weapon pointed on her. She flicked the button and waited patiently, staring down the guard as she did. He stared at her in confusion before he started laughing. She pretended to fiddle with it and look confused at the lack of response.

The familiar hum and lights of the transporter beams swirled around her; they had never been so welcoming. She gave the guard a fleeting smirk at her rouse. The guard stopped laughing and scrambled to adjust his weapon but she was already aboard her ship.

"It took you long enough." She ground out, still reeling from the transporter. "Did you get the data?" She asked quickly. Quinn nodded. "The Captain sends his regards." He replied with a slight smirk. She could feel the light pink crawl it's way up her neck, or it would have if she wasn't still green. "Good, we need to get out of this space. Warp factor four, set coordinates to Deep Space one." She relayed her orders to the bridge and made her way to sick bay.

A few hours later she was back to her pale complexion. She sent off the data to Starfleet command. It was in their hands now, they would no doubt send a special team to retrieve the missing data.

She wandered on to the bridge stretching as she did. "It's good not to be green anymore." she stated as she flopped into her captains chair. "Some of the men are going to miss it, or at least the outfits." He whispered to her. She glared half heartedly at him. "Especially a certain Captain." he mumbled before making his way back to his station. She rolled her eyes and try to ignore the last statement but she could feel the light flush across her cheeks.

She had heard back from Admiral Archer with a special thanks and apology for sending in another team. She waved it off, glad to have the help. A bit of warning would have been nice, but she wasn't going to tell an admiral that.

"I don't know about you but I could use a little Rest and Relaxation." Ramona stated as she gave a big yawn and a stretch.

"I bet you could Captain. I bet you could." He replied, thinking of a certain captain as he did. She knew what he was implying.

"Oh, shove it Quinn." She replied tartly as the rest of the crew chuckled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Old West

"Really Captain, if I didn't know any better I would say you like to play dress up." Quinn joked as they studied the people of this planet. "Oh hush up." She mock glared as she used the decorative fan, to hide most of her face. "We're scientist sometimes you have to make sacrifices." She chuckled. He rolled his eyes, but she knew he wasn't as upset with this mission as he seemed to be.

"These people seem interesting but they're so primitive compared to us, what do you expect to learn from them?" Brooks grumbled from her other side. "You call yourself a scientist, I'm ashamed." Ramona mocked from behind her fan. He shot her a look of contempt. "I get studying these people, I do but was this all really necessary." His hand waving around the newly constructed, old west style saloon. "I don't really think we're suppose to implant ourselves in their culture, don't we usually set up hidden observation rooms." Mathew asked from the side, keeping his voice low.

"Yes, as long as we don't do anything stupid, what better way to learn about them than being a part of them." Ramona replied as she adjusted the corset. "Their fashion leaves something to be desired." She mumbled finally getting fed up with the outfit. It was fun for a while but now it was becoming an irritant. So tight and so many laces and ruffles. Not to mention itchy.

They had been on this planet for a few weeks now, Starfleet sent them to observe the culture. It was similar to earths old west. The planet held no real value, other than a few minor resources, but they were sent to observe and report back. And from that point on Starfleet would keep an eye on the planet and monitor its development.

"It really is an interesting culture." She finally stated, giving up on the dress. She was cut off from further comment when the doors of the saloon were pushed open roughly. The clanging of spurs the only thing heard as the other patrons turned to the door. A group of three men looked around the saloon taking it all in.

"Can I help you boys with anythin'?" Ramona drawled fanning herself slightly, while watching the new comers carefully. Brooks, Mathew and Quinn eyed them from their various positions along the bar.

One in particular let a smile slide across his face as he made his way to the bar. "I think there just might be." He replied eyeing her with a less than friendly glint in his eye. The others tensed ready to defend their captain. She raised her eyebrow but waited for him to continue. "Knock it off." The second man barked before turning to Ramona. "We're looking for someone." He stated. Again she waited for him to continue. He gave her an irritated look. "Anybody by the name of Rocky, come through here?" He asked eyeing the three men at the bar, who seemed to be watching their conversation carefully. "You're going to have to be more specific, darlin'." She replied carefully, but with an air of boredom.

"His names Roscoe Williams." The third man grumbled from his spot by the door. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man in the far corner tense and reach for his gun. "I ain't heard of him." She replied, cringing on the inside for the terrible grammar. "Now I'm going to have to ask you boys to leave. You seem to be disturbin' my customers." She drawled eyeing them carefully. "Listen whore…" the first one started moving towards her, Brooks and Quinn reached toward their guns. The second man put his hand on the first one. "Easy, she said she ain't heard of him." "But if I find out you know somethin', well darlin', I won't stop him next time." Letting the threat hang in the air they left but not before eyeing everyone in the bar.

"Captain this is stupid. We need to leave." Brooks whispered harshly. She ignored him as she moved from behind the bar, toward the man in the corner. The three watched her cautiously.

"You mind tellin' me why three angry men came stormin' in my bar lookin' for you." She replied eyeing the young man in front of her. "I don't know what you're talking about lady." He tried to get up but she put her hand on his shoulder and forced him back down. "You either tell me or I'll have those three men over there get it out of you." She replied pointing toward the bar. The three oblivious to what she was doing. He weighed his options before slumping his shoulders.

"Our families have hated each other for years." He started and wasn't sure where to go from there, she waited patiently. "I don't want to be a part of it." He continued. "Theres this girl…" Aw and the real issue comes out. "She part of the wrong family, but you love her anyway." Ramona summed up from the few pieces he gave her. He looked up at her in complete shock. "How…?" "Don't sweat it kid, I ain't gunna tell anyone. But you best be getting home to your family and keep away from this place. It ain't safe here anymore, they'll be lookin' for ya." She drawled with an undercurrent of warning. "Thank you, ma'am." He got up and practically shot out of the bar, making sure to look around for the men.

"What was that about?" Brooks demanded as soon as she got close. "It seems we've stumbled onto a Hatfield and McCoy type situation." She stated fanning herself lost in thought. The others looked at each other. "A what?" Quinn asked.

She dropped the fan down in a huff, "Did none of you read about the old west before coming down here?" they all stared at her blankly. "I wanted to see how similar this culture was to our own. So I brushed up on some history. The Hatfield's and the McCoy's massacred each other for years, over a petty family rivalry. Obviously there's more to it but that about sums it up." She replied before moving back behind the bar. "When we return to Nova I might just have to read about them." Mathew replied slightly interested.

-0-

The next week the three men could be seen around town keeping an eye out for the young boy. "You would think they would have given up by now and gone home or something." Mathew stated as he looked out the window. "They must have a source here. He must have been spotted around here." Ramona replied as she moved around the bar.

"Incoming" Quinn replied with a smirk gracing his features. She looked at him bewildered, but that was quickly replaced with shock when she saw who wandered through the door.

"And just what do you think you're doing here?" She growled as she made her way to the new comers. "Why, to see you of course." Kirk's smile stretched across his face as he took in her attire. The other patrons stopped to watch the scene unfold. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the back room and the noise level returned.

"What are you really doing here, captain?" she replied putting her hands on her hips. "We were in the area and we just finished an assignment, we detected your ship over the planet and I had to see for myself why you're breaking protocol." He replied with a smug smile. She was so irritated with him, he could ruin her assignment by being here. "I'm not breaking protocol." She replied defensively. "Oh, really?" He asked raising a brow. "We have a station set up, but mission guidelines states I'm allowed a certain number of people to infiltrate the society to learn first hand. Protocol doesn't state that it can't be the captain." She replied crossing her arms, but in doing so caused her bosom to push up even more.

She smirked at him until she saw his expression, she wasn't sure what he was thinking, but as he moved towards her she moved back toward the door only to bump into the counter. She put her hands behind her to brace herself. Maybe she didn't know him as well as she thought, she must have struck a nerve.

His body was only and inch from hers any movement and she would be flush against him. "What…?" she didn't get to finish that thought as his lips brushed against hers. She tensed unsure what was happening, but as his body moved into hers pushing her further into the counter, she brought her hands up to his arms gripping the outer jacket so hard she was sure her knuckles were white.

She depended the kiss and he started unwinding her hair never breaking the connection. As her hair started to fall from its confines, his other hand started to trace her spine, following along the ties of the dress. She could feel a light tugging and her back and she could swear she heard him growl slight in frustration. "Having trouble captain?" She asked as she pulled back. He glared at her in mock anger. "It's not my fault, this dress is poorly designed." Huffed as he tugged on a few of the strings for emphasis. "Well women here, don't make it easy for the men. They make them work for it." She replied toying with the front of his shirt with a mischievous glint in her eye.

He grinned at her before attacking her once more. This time lifting her up onto the counter and completing forgoing the corset. She responded with the same vigor. Stripping him of his jacket and tossing it somewhere. He stuck his hand under the dress and made his way up her leg. He moved from her mouth to her neck and she moaned slightly as he hit a sensitive spot, causing his grip on her leg to tighten.

There was a cough from the back door. They both froze, turning to the intruder.

She was surprised to find Roscoe Williams and a girl she assumed was from the family that came looking for him. Kirk pulled away ready to defend himself and her. She however blushed a bright red color as she straightened out her dress and tried to fix her hair as she got down from the counter. She could see the girl was just as flushed as she was if not more.

"Sorry to interrupt…" he coughed his neck getting red, "But we have no where else to go." He stated with pleading eyes. "And what makes you think you'll be safe here?" Ramona asked cocking her hip and watching the two carefully.

"Please we have no where else to go and her uncles are all over the town, but they have yet to come back here." His eyes pleaded with her. "I don't have anywhere for you two to sleep, and I don't have much here for food." She replied in a last-ditch effort to unsweeten the deal. "We can sleep on the floor and we can get our own food, please." She sighed, to be young, stupid and in love. This she knew was breaking the prime directive, but if they could get out of here by tomorrow her involvement would be minimal.

"Fine but you'll have to stay back here until dark, that's the only time they seem to leave." "Oh thank you…" "Mona, my names Mona." She replied with a raised brow. "Thank you Mona." Roscoe replied before taking the girl to the side to talk. That's when I felt Kirk pull me aside by the elbow. "What do you think you're doing?" "This goes against the prime directive." He stated with a hint of worry. "Oh, please like you follow the rules and the prime directive so strictly." She replied rolling her eyes. "That doesn't make it okay for you to break it, you're a good captain. I don't want you to lose your command over a couple love sick kids."

"You don't even know me." She replied softly. "That maybe true but I've looked you up, like I'm sure you've done with me. Your good to your crew and you're a good captain."

"Don't worry, I was going to inform the others that we're leaving tomorrow. The sooner we can get out of here the better." She whispered with a small smile. He returned it. Silence fell over the two and the tension of what happened before the two kids showed up, returned. To avoid an episode in front of the kids, Ramona went to the wash room to fix her hair, and Kirk went back out to the bar.

She filled the others in about what was going on, Quinn couldn't help smirk at her. She glared at him.

"I take it you and the captain are on better terms." "I don't know what you're talking about." She replied as she brushed past him to get things ready for the morning. Her face flushing as she went. She couldn't remember the last time she blushed so much.

That morning with the help of the enterprise crew that were on the planet they collected their data and dismantled and transported the observation room. They were about to beam up as well when Ramona remembered there was one last thing she needed to get from the saloon.

"Hurry up, captain." Quinn yelled after her. She sent him a look over her shoulder which had him chuckling.

She made it into town, but it seemed too quiet, usually there would be a few people milling about. When she walked into the saloon she realized why, the place was trashed. She saw a small puddle of blood on the floor. She made her way carefully to the back. No sign of Roscoe or the girl. She grabbed the revolver from under the bar and the transmitter hidden in one of the bottles. She wasn't sure if she was glad to come back for it now, she tucked the transmitter down the front of the corset. As she made her way back out the door, she was rounding a corner when she heard the tell-tale cocking of a revolver. "I wouldn't move if I were you." It was vaguely familiar but she wasn't sure which man from the three it was.

"What do you want from me?" She asked carefully. "You lied to me sweetheart." "No one gets away with lying to me." He replied near her ear. Her Starfleet training danced through her mind, but with the dress she wasn't sure how much movement she had. "What are you going to do to me?" She heard him chuckle. She felt him step back, it was her chance. She spun around knocking the gun out of his hands, grabbing it and taking off toward the others. This dress was drastically cutting down her movement. He caught her and tackled her to the ground, a cloud of dust flew up. She grunted in pain before spinning around and pointed the gun at him through the dust. She heard him coughing slightly, her eyes squinting. As it cleared he looked up in slight shock. Before he snarled at her, he moved toward her and she pulled the trigger. The crack of the gun shot rang through the silent town, she breathed deeply realizing she had been holding her breath. She stood up brushing herself off, soon realizing it was a fruitless endeavor. She was going to be cleaning dirt and blood off herself for a few hours after this.

"Don't move." Someone yelled to her. Her head shot up looking around. The other two men from before were watching her carefully, both their guns were trained on her. "Drop the gun." The other told her. Before she could reply a gun shot ran out from behind her. She saw Roscoe and two other men. He was waving her over frantically.

"I can't believe you shot him." He stated as she got closer. "Yeah." She mumbled still reeling from the events taking place. Soon after there were more men for both sides and a gun fight soon broke out. She tried to make her way out, but Roscoe stuck close to her. She needed to get to the others. "Go to your family, I'll be fine." She tried to lose him. "Can't they'll be coming for you, you helped me it's my time to help you." He replied looking around a corner. Before she could respond a hand shot out and covered her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at her capture. She swung out and hit the person in the arm. They laughed slightly at her attempt.

"Kirk what the hell? You scared me. How did you even know to come back?" She grumbled. Roscoe spun around pointing his gun before he saw who it was. "We heard the gun shots. We need to get out of this town." Kirk stated. "Tell me about it." She replied tersely. A second later Roscoe slumped to ground, she looked up and saw Kirk's second in command with his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Vulcan nerve pinch, works every time." Kirk joked as they made their way out of the town.

The others were waiting. "Took you long enough." Quinn glared, taking in her state. They beamed aboard. "That's the last time, I lead an away mission. If I ever try to again, remind me of this moment." She ground out as she started to strip on the transporter pad, all the while mumbling about incoherent things. Mathew, Brooks, and Quinn all averted there eyes. Kirk raised his eyebrow.

"Thank you for your help Captain. I must start on my report while it's still fresh on my mind." She replied placing a hurried kiss on his cheek and sweeping out of the room. Unable to stand being in her own skin.

"Did that just happen?" Kirk asked after a long pause.

"You'll get use to it." Quinn stated as the other two moved off the transporter pad.

"I'll be returning to my ship, I suppose." Kirk replied still bewildered.

"That would be a good idea captain." Quinn responded with a smirk.

"Until next time." They nodded to each other.

Quinn met up with Ramona later in the mess hall. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked quietly. "I'd rather not…" there was a long pause. She hung her head and stood up. "This was my fault." she tapped the table with her knuckles and sweeping out of the mess hall.

"Personal Log: Captain Ramona Hill…

I made a mistake today, one that I never thought I would make. I broke the rules, I disregarded the prime directive and now people are dead because of me…" Her log went on longer.

"End personal log."

She made her way to her bed and picked up the picture on her night stand. She put her forehead against it, she took a deep breath and got herself under control. She put the picture back and slipped into bed, falling into a fitful sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Episode 5: It's a Trap

After the events of the old west world, Ramona had been a little more reserved with her actions. But recently she had been returning to her normal self.

It had been months since the massacre, there was a new team, a more long term research group assigned to the planet. They said Roscoe and his now wife were alive, but most of their families had been massacred in the town. She was glad the two were alive but she wanted to put this whole thing in her past and move on.

The com indicated a hail, she turned slowly to her communications officer, waiting.

"Captain we're receiving a distress call. Audio only." She replied. "Play it." Ramona nodded.

"USS Nova we seem to have lost power to our core, we require assistance." And like that it ended. She had never heard a distress call so calm or so short. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, this was definitely a trap. But by who. "Captain?" Quinn asked from his station. "I know, it's a trap." She stated calmly, weighing her options. "Proceed with caution, contact the nearest starship, in case something goes wrong. As well as Starfleet. We don't need this turning into another Pegasus." She stated and waited as her orders were carried out.

She was only going warp factor one, the message wasn't rushed, so she figured she didn't need to rush either. Especially if this was a trap, she needed to buy some time for the other starships that would most likely rescue them.

_**Starship Enterprise**_

"Captain we're receiving a hail." Uhura stated. Kirk turned with a grin across his face. "It's the USS Nova, they say they intercepted a distress call from an unknown Starfleet ship, addressed directly to them. They're on a intercept course but request assistance as the circumstances seem… less than honorable."

"So she's walking into a trap, again." Kirk mused to himself. After a brief pause, Kirk turned to his second in command. "Spock can you pick them up on scanners?" "I can Captain." He replied standing at his station. "How fast are they going?" Spock turned to his instruments. "Warp factor one, sir"

"Good girl." Kirk mumbled under his breath, a smile stretching across his lips. "Alright set a course to intercept, warp factor four."

"Aye, Aye Captain." Chekov replied as he started tapping his panel.

_**USS Nova**_

"Captain the Enterprise is on an intercept course." Ramona wanted to Roll her eyes. It was like the two were following each other across the galaxy. "Good, we'll take whatever help we can get." She ignored the stares that she was no doubtable getting from her second in command. After a few more minutes of this she finally turned to him. "Not a word." She ground out under breath. "Yes, Captain." He replied with a grin.

They dropped out of warp an hour later and picked up the ship on scanners. "How many survivors?" she asked turning to Quinn. A perplexed look crossed his face, before he turned to Ramona. "Just one, captain." She would have asked how that was possible, but everything about this seemed off. "Hold course, we'll wait here until someone contacts us. No need to get stupid." She stated watching the view screen.

The com beeped indicating another incoming hail. "We have audio and visual."

"Put it up." A second later an older man in a Starfleet uniform graced the screen. "Thank you for answer the distress call, I thought I'd be stuck out here for quite some time." The man smiled with relief. "No problem at all, but I have a question. What exactly happened to your ship and your crew? Our scanners indicate you're the only one on board." She replied with a friendly grin.

She saw a look flash over his features before he smiled again, only this time it didn't reach his eyes. "This ship is a prototype and I only had a few others with me, the ship malfunctioned and it cost my crew their lives. I was safe on the bridge, but I'll have to live with their deaths." She felt something creep up her spine, she knew he was only telling a partial truth. She hadn't heard anything about Starfleet building new prototypes. "Do you mind if we come aboard to assist with repairs?"

"By all means captain." He replied with the same tight-lipped smile. She ended the com and turned to her first officer. "Quinn have Brooks, his team and two security officers beam over to assist with repairs. Do not beam that man aboard my ship?" She commanded calmly. He nodded and set to work carrying out her orders.

She got a com from Brooks a few minutes after he was beamed over. "Sir, I've never seen anything like it, it's definitely Starfleet design but… there's so much artillery on this thing. It would cause nothing but destruction… and that's not all…" but he was cut off by something in the background.

"That bastard started the self destruct sequence." She felt panic swim in her chest. "Quinn beam them back, NOW."

"You only have seconds captain, we're aboard get us out of here." She felt relief at Brooks voice. "Punch it Mathews." "Don't have to tell me twice captain." He tapped furiously at his panel, she felt the tell-tale pull of the ship jumping to warp.

"Is the captain of that ship aboard?" she asked through the com, to the transporter room. "Yes captain." Quinn voice answered. "Throw him in the brig, until I have a chance to talk to him." She ground out. A second later she received a hail from Enterprise.

"Everyone alright. Captain." Kirk added as an afterthought. "For now yes. I'll explain later, how far out are you?" She asked carefully. "A few minutes, we saw the blast on our scanners." He started before she cut him off.

"I'll explain shortly, Hill out." "Mathew set a course for earth, and send a message to Starfleet informing them of what happened." She got up making her way to the transporter room to wait for the captain.

As Kirk got aboard she explained to him what had transpired. And she could see he was just as perplexed as her. "Care to join me?" She asked ushering him to the brig. "With pleasure." He replied shooting her a look. She wanted to roll her eyes but refrained.

They spent a good hour in the brig interrogating the prisoner but he was giving nothing away. A short time later, her bridge contacted her that there was an Admiral Marcus hailing them. She had yet to meet the Admiral so she was on high alert. Kirk shared a look with her, as they made their way to the bridge.

"What can I help you with Admiral?" She asked calmly. The admiral was older like most admirals and he had a stern look about him. "I've been sent by Starfleet, we received your message about the new ship and the traitor." He replied with a calm smile. She returned the smile and a nod.

"I'll be taking the prisoner from here, captain. He will be transported to an earth facility where we will get to the bottom of his deception." She felt this task was far below an admiral and she wanted to question what his real intentions were but she wasn't willing to take the risk and be wrong. For all she knew, the man in the brig was a valuable asset and only someone high-ranking could obtain the information, i.e. highly classified information. Sometimes she wished she was a little more impulsive like Kirk, but then again she knew that would be a terrible wish.

"Of course admiral, I will have him transported immediately." "Thank you captain", He eyed Kirk for a second before nodding and ending the com link. She let out a sigh.

"Get the prisoner to the transporter room." She told one of her security officers. The sooner that man was off her ship the better. She nearly lost her engineer for that traitor.

Ramona and Kirk made their way to the turbo lift. "Thank you for coming Captain, but it seems we didn't need your help after all." She stated with a tired smile. "Anytime Mona." She could see he wanted to touch her but refrained. She felt the tension increase. They both were subconsciously moving closer to each other, before either could touch the turbo lift whooshed open revealing the prisoner on the transporter pad. The lights swirled and he was gone.

The prisoner was off her ship and she felt the weight lift off her shoulders. "I'm sure we'll see each other very soon." Kirk stated moving up to the pad. "Until next time, James." She replied with a soft smile. As the lights swirled she turned around and was met with a smirking Quinn.

"It's James now, is it?" He asked. They bickered all the way back up to the bridge.

"Captain we're being hailed by Admiral Archer." She gave a look of curiosity. "Put him on." "What can I do for you Admiral?" She asked with a curious smile. "Starfleet received your message about the ship and prisoner, and I was calling to see what you had gotten from him so far." He stated calmly.

She sent him a perplexed look. "We didn't get much out of him before Admiral Marcus came and took him." She replied calmly feeling a weight settle in her stomach. "He said Starfleet had sent him to intercept the prisoner." She replied calmly, but she could feel her skin crawl. She saw a look pass over the admirals face. "Thank you Hill, I must have been misinformed. I'm glad to see your crew is in one piece. Archer out." And with that the screen went dark.

She didn't want to think about unrest in Starfleet. She shot Quinn a look, like him hoping this was all a big misunderstanding. She left the bridge to her ready room to process the events and to see if she could wade through the lies and find a truth. Something told her this was only the beginning.

* * *

**Not John Harrison/Kahn**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Medieval Me

It was a few months after the interaction with the Admirals and she hadn't heard anything. She took that as a good sign, sort of.

She sat in her ready room going over her new assignment. She leaned back in her chair as she read her padd. She'd been scrolling for a few hours now and she could feel a headache creeping up the base of her neck and pulsing in her temples. She set her padd down with a soft thud on her desk and massaged her temples. She let out a groan of frustration. That was one thing she hated about being a Captain, all the 'paperwork'. She had wanted to be an explorer since she was little. That was one of the reasons she had joined Starfleet in the first place. The vast worlds, cultures and not to mention languages. She learned young that languages came easier, and she had found her calling. Her parents had been apprehensive but she was determined.

Getting out of the chair she rubbed her neck and made her way to the replicator. Hot chocolate and marshmallows, just what she needed. She paced the small room to get the blood flowing again before making her way back to the desk and plopping in her chair, careful not to spill the cocoa. She breathed in the warm liquid, sighing as she exhaled.

"Now what do we have here?" she mused to herself as she picked up the padd and resumed her reading.

"Quinn, my ready room." She stated calmly to the computer before taking a sip of her hot cocoa. The doors opened a second later. "Yes, sir." he stated formally stopping in the middle of the room. She glanced up briefly and ushered with her data padd to take the seat. A smile tugged at his lips as he occupied the empty seat.

"Hot cocoa, really? Is it that bad?" he asked with a smile.

"Have you read the briefing?" She asked him casually. A smirk graced his lips.

"Why yes, I have. Is there a problem with the mission captain?" He asked calmly. She shot him a warning look before answering. "We have to go planet side and make contact. They have a important resource that Starfleet would like to study." she stated glancing over the report. "I still don't see the problem captain. Isn't that what we do?" He asked with a tilt of his head. She dropped her shoulders and let her head fall back.

"Yes of course, but we have to dress up again." She practically whined. This was the reaction Quinn was waiting for. "Well yeah, aren't you happy. Don't you like dressing up?" his smile stretching across his face. She felt like smacking him with her data padd but refrained. He could be such a pain in the ass.

"Kind of, but not as a tavern wench. Do you know how uncomfortable these clothes are?" she asked sitting forward setting down the padd and the mug. "No. Do you?" He shot back.

"No, but I've heard they're terribly uncomfortable. From the pictures I've seen they look more like medieval torture devices." She replied under her breath. Quinn chuckled. "I'm sure you will be fine captain. This a routine mission, it should go quickly and smoothly." he stated.

"Who knows the enterprise could be conveniently on a mission in a neighboring system." He added his voice taking on a playful tone. "Not funny Adrian." was her flat reply.

"And actually they're on Earth for something." She replied looking away quickly and picking at a nonexistent speck on her desk. He raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly would you know that?" He asked leaning forward a mischievous smile sliding across his face.

"We're fellow captains, we're allowed to speak to each other, and it's none of your business." She replied, her tone getting slightly defensive. He put his hands up in surrender shaking his head slightly a large grin stretching across his face.

With plans in place Quinn resumed his duties on the bridge as Ramona went about finalizing her plans for the mission.

She ran a hand through her hair in thought. It wasn't that this was going to be difficult, in fact she knew it wouldn't be, it was the seeds of doubt sprouting in the federation that she couldn't shake. She knew she shouldn't be worried but it was always there, but it was also something she had yet to share with Kirk. She didn't want to cause unnecessary problems and she knew if she told Kirk about this he was bound to do something rash.

She finished off her cocoa and called it a day, they would be reaching the planet in a few hours and she needed to rest before the mission.

-0-

As they thought the mission was simple, quick and only a few minor hiccups. Well minor per say.

"I will not apologize for what happened." Ramona stated defiantly. Breathing carefully and trying to adjust the dress and its many layers, not to mention the laces.

"You don't think it was a bit excessive?" Brooks asked from her side. She shot him a look, as she tried to adjust the front of her dress, which she suspected was the main cause of the problem on the mission.

"The next time an alien species tries to...mate with you, I'll be sure to remind you of this conversation." She stated pulling a few pins from her already disheveled hair. Brooks and Quinn rolled their eyes.

"We're not saying you should have let him, but you started a bar room brawl that turned into a town wide incident. You could have blown the mission." Quinn added trying to get her to see reason. "We're just saying, maybe you shouldn't have punched him those last ten times." Brooks added with a lopsided smile. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and her hands started to sting.

"Maybe your right." she added poking gently at her knuckles, inhaling through her teeth when she hit a sensitive spot. "You should see Doc about getting your hand fixed." Quinn stated looking over hands.

She nodded that she would do just that.

"I want your reports by the morning." She waved over her shoulder at the two as she made her way to sick bay.

She decided to kill two birds with one stone and worked on her report while in sick bay, to the irritation of her chief medical officer.

She had made it to her quarters after an hour in sick bay. She started with the pins in hair taking them out one by one. Tilting her head slightly she found one near the base of her skull.

"I'm going to be finding these damn things for days." Ramona murmured to herself, running her hands through her hair to find more.

"Captain you have a hail." her com officer's voice floated through the room.

"Patch it through to my quarters." she ordered softly, forgetting for a moment what she was wearing and who it might be.

"You didn't have to dress up for me." Kirks voice taking on a teasing tone. She rolled her eyes but a smile stretched across her face. "Take a good look because this will be the last time you'll be seeing me in it." Ramona did a small spin for emphasis. A smirk overtook his features. A light blush tinted her cheeks at the attention. As if shaking a thought Kirk's features changed.

"Enough about your outfit, how did it go?" He asked leaning forward slightly. She was almost glad for his reaction to her in this dress, made her feel more like a women. Pushing those thoughts to the side, she focused on his question.

She gave him a sheepish smile and scratched the back of her head. Kirk raised an eyebrow at her behavior.

"I may have started a town wide brawl." her voice soft a shy smile overtaking her features. He let out a loud laugh, causing her to chuckle lightly.

They spent the next few hours catching up. She enjoyed hearing about the adventures of his ship and his crew, he always seemed to find trouble, or trouble would find him.

"I don't know when I'll be able to call again. So until next time." He replied with his trade mark smirk.

She smiled softly. "Until next time, captain."

She stood up and started the process of taking off the torturous dress.

A few hours later she was lace free and pin free, she hoped. She was brushing it to make sure and walked to her bed side and sat down on the edge. Her mind started to wander and she was thinking back on the conversations she had, had with Kirk over the last month, a small smile made its way to her lips. A sudden thought struck her and she stopped mid motion.

"Am I falling for him?" she murmured to herself. After a second she shook her head and chuckled at how absurd that sounded, but now the seed was planted and she had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She stood up to put the brush away satisfied that there were no god forsaken pins left in her hair. She sat down at her desk and wrapped up her report, noticing that Brooks and Quinn had finished theirs as well and sent it off to Starfleet command. In the back of her mind she knew, she was going to be reprimanded for her behavior on the planet but she just couldn't bring herself to care. She didn't expose them, but she came very close. Who knows maybe this blaze attitude had come from her time spent talking to a certain captain.

She shook her head at the very idea, he wasn't changing her. She was just working to hard, being a captain was far more than she thought it was going to be and she had just become numb to certain consequences. In the back of her mind, a little voice was telling her that, that was only part of the truth.

Standing from the desk she glanced at the bed side table and saw the picture. She picked it up, running her hand along the side, a sad smile playing across her features.

"What should I do?" her voice taking on a child like quality. "I know his reputation, I'd have to be an idiot for not knowing, but there is just something about him that I can't seem to get enough of." she stood up taking the picture with her.

"I shouldn't get too close, he's just going to hurt me in the end if I don't stop this now." "Whatever this is?" she paced the room, stopping and starting as her mind processed these strange new ideas. Making little to no sense.

"On the other side, I think you two would have really liked him." she added to the picture in her hand. Unsure of why she said it, she shook her head.

"Oh, I'm so confused and I'm asking a picture of my dead parents for advice." "I must be loosing it." her voice becoming strained. She moved toward the bed and flopped down backwards.

"Wonderful, Ramona. Keep talking to yourself, that will help." she rolled on her side and put the picture back in its place.

"I just need sleep. Tomorrow I'll be good as new." She had no idea why she was talking to herself, but she chalked it up to being tired from the days events, maybe taking one too many hits to the head during the brawl. Tomorrow would be a new day and these strange thoughts would be gone. She hoped.

If all else failed she would seek Quinn's advise. He seemed to approve of the relationship, but she suspected it was only that way because he liked giving her a hard time and he didn't think of it as anything other than flirting.

Quinn she had a feeling would not take well to her new-found feelings, if that's what they indeed were. He was protective as a brother would be for a sister and in certain cases it was a strange relationship for a first officer to have with his captain.

She let out a sigh, this shouldn't be bothering her as much as it was. She should be exploring the galaxy, having grand adventures not sitting in the dark of her quarters debating how the men in her life were going to react to her feelings.

"What are you getting yourself into Ramona?" With that last thought she slipped into a fitful sleep.


End file.
